French: Anéantir; English: "Annihilate"
Houellebecq loves to cause scandals, and for this book, he came up with a real shocker: He is now a romantic! Yes! Still an existentialist romantic, but „Anéantir“ is a political thriller, a roman à clef, a family novel and a love story that makes references to all of the great master’s fictional work – and in the end, the author, 65 years old, hints at quitting his profession, after only eight novels. Non, Michel, ne quitte pas!!

„Anéantir“ is set in 2027, Emmanuel Macron is approaching the end of his second five-year term. Our protagonist Paul Raison is the personal adviser to the Minister of Economy and Finance, Bruno Juge (Houellebecq is a good friend of the real minister, Bruno Le Maire, who, before the book’s publication, helped spark rumors about the content). While seeking a new Presidential candidate and preparing for the election, international terror attacks shake France and other nations. Who are the terrorists, and what are their aims? The secret service investigates.

This plotline becomes less and less important as the story progresses though. Paul’s marriage to Prudence (yup, a Beatles reference!) is in decline, but, in what in the context of Houellebecq can only be read as a surprising plot twist, the two try to revive it in the face of tragedy: Paul’s father, a former secret service agent, suffered a stroke. His partner, a simple, but dedicated and loving woman named Madeleine, cares for him, the family fights again a n anonymous, commercialized health care system. Paul’s unhappily married younger brother Aurélien falls in love with a nurse from Mali, his older, deeply religious sister Cécile tries to stand by her unemployed husband, a notary with connections to right-wing Catholic circles.

This family story about, believe it or not, the power and tragedy of love, is the heart of the novel. From there, he investigates a plethora of themes, from tech to terrrorism, from sex to spirituality, from politics to literature. Houellebecq completists ( me) will find references to all of his novels in this book. I was particularly impressed by the way he incorporates Philippe Lançon's Le Lambeau into his book, a book about the Charlie Hebdo terrorist attack, probably the most traumatic experience in Houellebecq’s life.

His sparse, sober style works well with this story, focusing on the intricate plot and, per usual, refraining from a lyrical language: Houellebecq stays true to his matter-fact-tone. The story culimates in personal sadness and the possibility of happiness, both at the same time, while the political threat rages on. It will be interesting how the book will be discussed in the context of the upcoming French election, and it will be great fun to search for and investigate the connection to the other seven novels.

Published in a lux edition in France, because “Le livre, c’est un de mes objets préférés dans la vie” (same, Michel, saaame!) – the design makes a reference to the Beatles‘ „White Album“, which also plays a role in the novel. The Beatles made some important albums after this, and Houellebecq’s statements aren’t always the most reliable, so let’s see what happens.2021-read france147 s Violeta94 75

In an essay I recently read, Julian Barnes ‘accuses’ Michel Houellebecq of the “sin of despair.” This is the “sin of cutting yourself off from all warm and living human contacts.” Barnes borrowed the term from Agatha Christie’s (of all people!) novel The Hollow. Coincidentally, Agatha’s books provide a fair amount of comfort to the despairing protagonist of this latest book from the controversial, award-winning French novelist. In 2003, said sin was used as the underlying theme of Barnes’s review of Houellebecq’s then second book, Platform. He concluded the review by doubting if Houellebecq “will ever succeed in purging” it, the same way Camus ended up doing in The First Man, where “ordinary lives are depicted with the richest observation and sympathy.”

Twenty years and five novels later, Houellebecq has come as close to catharsis as his skepticism allows. One can go only so far with irony and nihilism as his defenses against the inevitable disillusionment in store for any romantic (in the historical context of the word) out there. Underneath his infuriating insolence thatÂ’s what Houellebecq has always been, in my opinion: a romantic trying to cope with the despair embedded in the Western way of life as we know it from the 1980s to this day.

Anéantir means Annihilate. By following the alienated existence of a French civil servant for the better part of the book, we’re led to believe that the annihilation of the title refers to the deterioration of relationships, values, structures and the well-being of the people in our hero’s life. In his bold writing style Houellebecq gives us a grim account of personal and social Decline. He also, surprisingly, offers an assortment of consolations: family ties, nature, literature, religious beliefs of any kind. A political and a crime thriller is also woven into the narration, rather inessentially in my opinion, but writing habits are hard to shake off, I guess.

All this to set the stage for the final hundred or so pages that are the core of the book and justify its title. There, Houellebecq confronts head-on that other D-word, the big one: Death. And being who he is, he isnÂ’t sugarcoating anything. The despair, incomprehensibility and terror of your own demise. How to deal with it? How to soften the blow? Can anyone or anything really soften the blow? The hero is diagnosed with terminal cancer and spends his last days (and totally captivating last pages) searching for the answer.

And what do you know? It is so simple, so trite, right there for all (but Houellebecq, until now) to see: Love! ItÂ’s Love that does the trick! The Beatles had said it, playwrights and lyricisists have been saying it, Jesus and every other deity out there had said it, from the beginning of human consciousness. It took Houellebecq a lifetime to acknowledge it as a life vest to the very End. ItÂ’s unfair but itÂ’s true: when the realization is delivered by a life-long cynic itÂ’s doubly heart wrenching. I was holding my breath with every page I turned and I suspect IÂ’ll be revisiting those last hundred pages time and again in the future.

So, Mr. Barnes, I think it’s safe to say that, at 66, Mr. Houellebecq has finally managed to purge himself of that dreadful sin. He’s worthy of our literary absolution, even if his closing words state that it was all “much-needed fairy-tale lies”...85 s Roula558 173

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